From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observations
In Mrs. Loomis's Class today, she modeled study strategies for her students. She began the class reviewing what they did in previous classes and finished up a few notes with the students. She told the students about their quiz for the following day and instructed them to take out certain worksheets that they will need to study. She then modeled different study strategies and gave the students tools to determine how they study best. During instruction, the students cooperate and and take turns reading the notes. During the activity, however, a good portion of the kids took their time and didn't keep on the task. Some kids were playing with blow up globes that were in the back of the room, while others were talking in their seats.
Reflections
When I was in Mrs. Loomis's class, I asked her if it was hard for her this year because her daughter is in one of her classes. On the contrary, she said it was easier because she knew all of the kids in the team and could be very informal and treat them differently than she would normallly treat her students. The class was more like a party in her living room than a class room. The students knew they could get away with more with this teacher. Because of this fact, Mrs. Loomis has to try extra hard to engage the students in hands-on, fun activities. None the less, there were still students that kept with the task on hand and didn't push buttons with Mrs. Loomis.
I feel it is very important that students are engaged in the classroom. When students are not engaged, this is the time when they get into trouble. This is where classroom management comes in. Some simple strategies are seating arrangements, splitting up students that often get off task, and putting trouble students near the teacher. Some instructional practices that can help are relating students to their work. I feel it is extremely important to tell your students what they will be doing it and why they will be doing it. This is one step into getting them engaged into the class. Another important step is to activate prior knowlede and connect the material to their personal lives. I would try to take this further to allow students to engage in inquiry lessons in which they can choose how to conduct their experiments with something that interests them.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observations
In Mrs. Loomis's Class today, she modeled study strategies for her students. She began the class reviewing what they did in previous classes and finished up a few notes with the students. She told the students about their quiz for the following day and instructed them to take out certain worksheets that they will need to study. She then modeled different study strategies and gave the students tools to determine how they study best. During instruction, the students cooperate and and take turns reading the notes. During the activity, however, a good portion of the kids took their time and didn't keep on the task. Some kids were playing with blow up globes that were in the back of the room, while others were talking in their seats.
Reflections
When I was in Mrs. Loomis's class, I asked her if it was hard for her this year because her daughter is in one of her classes. On the contrary, she said it was easier because she knew all of the kids in the team and could be very informal and treat them differently than she would normallly treat her students. The class was more like a party in her living room than a class room. The students knew they could get away with more with this teacher. Because of this fact, Mrs. Loomis has to try extra hard to engage the students in hands-on, fun activities. None the less, there were still students that kept with the task on hand and didn't push buttons with Mrs. Loomis.
I feel it is very important that students are engaged in the classroom. When students are not engaged, this is the time when they get into trouble. This is where classroom management comes in. Some simple strategies are seating arrangements, splitting up students that often get off task, and putting trouble students near the teacher. Some instructional practices that can help are relating students to their work. I feel it is extremely important to tell your students what they will be doing it and why they will be doing it. This is one step into getting them engaged into the class. Another important step is to activate prior knowlede and connect the material to their personal lives. I would try to take this further to allow students to engage in inquiry lessons in which they can choose how to conduct their experiments with something that interests them.